Crossword Dictionary
gentry
gentry, gentries - n
people of high social class
The gentry are the powerful members of society. In the United Kingdom, where there are still kings and queens and dukes and duchesses, the gentry are the people who rank just below the nobility.
Gentry can also refer to the important people in any field. The gentry of rock 'n' roll would include icons like Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley. The gentry of Hollywood are the stars everyone recognizes, the faces you constantly see on magazine covers, starring in movies, and making TV appearances. The gentryof New York society are the people who make major donations to art museums and hospitals and are A-list invitees to all the big fundraisers and cultural events.
etymology
c. 1300, "nobility of rank or birth;" mid-14c., "a fashion or custom of the nobility;" late 14c., "nobility of character," from Old French genterie, genterise, variant of gentelise "noble birth, aristocracy; courage, honor; kindness, gentleness," from gentil "high-born, noble, of good family" (see gentle).
Meaning "noble persons, the class of well-born and well-bred people" is from 1520s in English, later often in England referring to the upper middle class, persons of means and leisure but below the nobility. Earlier in both senses was gentrice (c. 1200 as "nobility of character," late 14c. as "noble persons"), and gentry in early use also might have been regarded as a singular of that. In Anglo-Irish, gentry was a name for "the fairies" (1880), and gentle could mean "enchanted" (1823).